Deciding Travel Around the World

I'm thirty-one, single, with no real Responsibility. It sounds like its time for a road trip, the road trip of a lifetime. I have decided to take a trip around the world. All seven continents in about 7 months.

Traveling to all seven continents in one trip

At thirty-one I found myself single with no real responsibility. It was time for a road trip, the road trip of a lifetime. This trip would grow into a budget travel experience of all seven contents over a nine-month period. Armed with only a carry on bag and limited linguist skills, English, this wonder would prove to be the greatest experience of my life. Oh ya, I got engaged too. This book will help you learn how I did it, along with tips on how to travel light, safe and maximize the experience.

I had done three week to six-week trips out of the country before, but never anything to the extent of a nine-month around the world journey.
I had just sold my share of a business to my partner. Pablo’s was a Coffee House and wine bar in Denver Colorado. My partner and I had spent the previous three years in an all-consuming struggle to make a go of it. We did. We were never going to get rich, but it was a great quality of life, just long hours. After the sale

Should be opening of the book. I found myself going through the cheap air flights section of the Newspaper, a travelers pornography, and though I would look at around the world fairs. Looking at the fairs I sat and thought, “someday I want to do that.” It was at this time some part of my sub-conscious grab my consciousness by the coat collar slapped it across the face and said:
Sub-Conscious “What’s wrong with you? You can do it now. Just buy a ticket and leave.”
An internal mental debate was emanate. My consciousness retorted with:
Consciousness: “I’m from the suburbs of Omaha Nebraska, who do I know that has taken a trip around the world?”

Sub-Conscious: “WAKE UP, this is your dream trip.”

Consciousness: “ I’m not a kid, I’m thirty-one. I have a mortgage and responsibilities and stuff, you know.”

Sub-consciousness: “So” Said dryly and condescending.

This cut to the bone, I was going to have to take out the big guns.

Consciousness “I’m the oldest of four kids both my sisters are married and on their way to mother hood. I should just settle down and get on with becoming productive member of society. Responsible people don’t put their stuff in storage, rent their house out, have a service pay their bills and take care of their financial affairs, have a friend watch their dog, buy a round the world the ticket and just go wonder ”

Sub-consciousness: “Why not?”

Consciousness: “uh,……Damn”

Sub-consciousness: Now with the attitude and confidence of Frank Sinatra drinking a dry martini leaning an elbow on the bar. Dramatic Pause “You’ve answered all the logistic questions yourself. So, the question is why wouldn’t you take this trip?”

Consciousness:



Well, my sub-conscious was not exactly subtle with my conscious but that may have been exactly what I needed.







Once the decision to take a trip has been made be prepared for some interesting comments, facial expressions and even some backlash.

I’m originally from Omaha Nebraska. A born and bread Midwesterner. I was raised Catholic in a white house in the suburbs. We had a mini van and cocker spaniel named Lucas. My Mom and Dad are not only still together; they are the most “in love couple I know. I am the oldest of four children, all of whom are educated, reasonably successful and married. (Not even a drug addiction teenage pregnancy skeleton in the closet) we grew up with National Geographic and school world geography. Everybody knew someone who had been to Europe.
So when I decided to take the trip of a lifetime a few things stuck out. Not being married, selling a successful business, renting out my house, and traveling around the world with only a backpack for almost a year. All at age thirty-one. This prospect really didn’t fit the definition of the “Nebraska Norm”. Even though I now live in Colorado and haven’t lived in Omaha since I was eighteen, this was the attitude I was brought up on.
I have been a wondering spirit for a while. Since graduating from the University Of Wyoming, “Power River letter Buck, We like girls that like to Fight” with a degree in Home Economics, I have been able to go and wander a bit. I have been to Europe a few times, backpacked Australia and new Zealand, Traveled through Central America, Hitch hiked in Mexico and traveled and lived all over the Western United States. Maybe it was because of these travels that I had such a strong desire some more of what was out there in the world. Who knows, maybe it was because I’m insecure and thought it might be a cool way to meet women by saying “Ya, I traveled around the world,” I hope not. For whatever reason, I had decided to take this trip and now came the process of letting people know.
In hindsight, I must say my family is amazing and I am very fortunate. I really didn’t know how they would react. Talking with other travelers I knew there was a vast potential of different reactions.
Note: I realize that I am thirty-one and I want to clarify that I was not asking permission. Yet is amazing how much easier like this is whey you have family support.
I remember calling my folks up for our weekly Sunday chat and beating around the bush. Finally mom says, I’m sure using her Mom mental telepathy, “ugh oh, what is it now” I hesitate, “Well….. I sold the coffee house to Craig, (my business Partner) and I’m going to take a year off and travel around the world.” I wince and pull the phone receiver away from my ear. I cautiously bring the receiver back up to my ear and the other end of the phone line was completely silent. Finally my Dad cleared is throat and in his deep Attorney working voice said, “Son, are you sure this is what you think you should do?” and then Mom chimed in “Are you still coming to the wedding?” My little sister was getting married in about a month. I responded “She’s my sister of course I am still coming the wedding, I will just take off the week after.
Silence again, Then Mom, “We just want you to be happy.”
I respond, “Thanks, I gotta get going, Love you guys.”
Mom and Dad replied, “Good bye son, we love you too” only Dad kept using his deep attorney voice.
I knew they would eventually come around. I began to receive some phone calls from my siblings and everything was positive and supportive. I was amazed at how quickly Mom and Dad got excited about the trip. They were really happy for me. I think Dad had to think about the ramifications for future employment opportunities. After equating this trip with my going back to school and getting my Doctorate he was great with it.
Thanks Mom and Dad for all the support.

With regards to my group of friends and acquaintances there were a wide variety of reactions:
“Cool, I’m so jealous”
“Why?”
“I’ve always wanted to do that”
“What are you running away from?”
“You know you won’t be able to get a job when you back.”
“O.K.” the slowly backing up and walking away.
“YA, Right”
“Have Fun”
The crazy thing is that buy the time I left and everyone could see I was “Really Leaving” most people were really supportive. After traveling fro awhile and sending out broadcast e-mail stories from the road everyone became even more supportive,
Thanks to all of you.
Ramification:
“You know you won’t be able to get a job when you get back.” That phrase did run around in my head quite a bit in the time between when I bought the ticket and actually left for my trip. I rationalize how I couldn’t fathom working for anybody who didn’t see this trip as an asset, not a liability. I took this thought to heart ant asked different professionals, head hunters and people who I considered Mentors. The Overwhelming response was always, “DO IT, it won’t hurt anything.” After being on the road awhile I began to see many practical benefits of extend low budget travel. If you have a tough peer group or a Dad who keeps using that “Deep Attorney Voice,” maybe this list of new well-honed skills will help:
1. Incredible problem solving skills. Once you find yourself lost in a huge city where you don’t speak the language, nothing at home will ever phase you again.
2. Creative use of minimal supplies. You will have everything you need right in your backpack.
3. Cleaver use of hand signals. I’m hungry I will take what that guy is eating. Where is the bathroom.
4. Strong thigh mussels as a result of traveling where there are only long drop toilets.
5. Perhaps a new language or two.
6. The ability to say no and be firm about it. Touts of the world can be persistent, “Taxi” “Change Money” “Come look at my shop”
7. Good Map reading skills.
8. Learn and finely hone negating skills. “How much for this roll of toilet paper” “300 Rupees” (Indian Currency) “No, I’ll give you Five Rupees” Five Minutes latter settling on thirty Rupees.
9. Greatly improved social skills. “Excuse me, do you know where the hell we are?” It is impossible to not meet an abundance of people while on the road.
10. An incredible sense of confidence. After arriving in your fifth third world city at 2:00 am, not knowing where to go or even a soul in the entire country and saying to yourself. “No problem, what should I do now.” And really feeling O.K. with it.
11. How to live on a budget.
12. A wealth of experiences that will be with you forever.

Theses points are written with a humorous tone, but they are very real. Extended travel in the third world can be a fabulous education an education that can’t be purchased through any formal learning institution. In addition the experiences will be something that no one will ever be able to take away from you. A good example of this happened while I was writing the first draft of this section. I was staying at an Exiled Tibetan Buddhist Monetary in Katmandu Nepal. I had cut meditation class in favor of sneaking out of the monetary to smoke cigarettes and write. I was writing New skill number 8 when an older bald monk in a robe came up to me. He excuses himself for interrupting but he was very curious about the palmtop computer I was using. I would guess that he was about fifty, very soft spoken, smiling and very curious. He asks if it a PSION palm top. Surprised, I said that yes it is. He then goes on to tell me all about it and how he had read up about it on the Internet. He sits down with me and I go through all the different functions with him and he tells me how perfect for his needs this would be. During this discussion the monk asks me about the size of the modem, I pull our a pack of cigarettes from my shirt pocket as a size comparison, oh shit, no smoking, busted. The monk looks at me, smiles and said “those cigarettes are very bad for you”. I think , I know, I know. Then he said “There are much better.” Surprise, surprise, I look at him with a questioning look but don’t ask how he knows. The old monk proceeds to tell me that he will be going to London in a Month and that he will pick up on the computers while there. As it turned out, this quite, polite man with a knowledge of cigarettes and computers, was the big cheese of the monetary, I’m glad I cut meditation class.
This brief encounter is an experience that I will treasure forever, and is a prime example of how the experiences gained while traveling will always out weight the struggles.

Once I had made the decision to see the world I had to start implementing the logistics. From the time I chose to go and the time I cought my first flight out was just six weeks. It really was plenty of time. For actually choosing where I was going to go, I tried to keep it simple. I wanted to be a traveler and not a tourist. In previous trips I had learned that it is easy to schedual and plan too much. So this trip was based on five simple stops. I wanted to: 1.Hike the Inca trail in Perue.
2. Go on Safarie in Africa.
3. See the Taj Mahal.
4. Experience Bangkock.
5. Visit Toyko.
Everywhere else I visited was going to be a bonus. Armed only with these destinations I went to the travel agent. Fortuntely I stumbled across one who thought this would be fun to arrange and was willing to educate herself on the different plans available. There are several different airline groups that set up around the world tickets. I choose to go with “The star alliance” These carriers included, United (for North America), Varig (South America) Luftansa (Europe and Africa) and Thai (Asia). This ticket allows one to travel North, South and East as much as you like. The only catch is that once you start you have to commit to cercumnavigate the globe. Other restrictions include:
1. Millage, I chose 59,000 miles, the maximum available.
2. Stop overs. I choose 15, the maximum availbe
3. Specific destinations. I choose the layout I thought looked good and knew I could change destinations for a nominal fee.
4. Dates for scheduled entries and exites. The ticket dates can be changed so I picked out target dates.
5. One backtrack or Westerly flight. I chose Nirobie back to Frankfurt. At the time there were no easterly flights out of Africa with any of the star alliance carriers.
6. Valid for one year. I wasn’t planning to be gone that long.

When I received my $2,800.00 stack of tickets it felt really cool to spread them out on the kitchen counter and see my name on a tickets that had city names on them like Buenos Aries, Nirobie and Hong Kong. I giggled and said out loud “I’m really doing it.”
When the tickets were all layed out the four page iternery read like this.
Denver > (layover) Miami > Limia Perue
Limia Perue > Santiago Chilie
Santiago Chilie >Buenos Aries Argentina
Buenos Aries Argentina > Rio De Janero Brazil
Rio De Janero Brazil> San Palo Brazil (Layover) > Franfurt Germany
Frankfurt Germany > Niarobie Kenya
Niarobie Kenya > Frankfurt Germany
Frankfurt Germany > New Delhi India
New Delhi India > Bangkok Thailand
Bangkok Thailand > Hong Kong China
Hong Kong China > Toyko Japan
Tokyo Japan > Hawaii U.S.
Hawaii U.S. > San Francisco U.S.
San Francisco U.S. > Las Vegas U.S.
Las Vegas U.S. > Denver U.S.

My travel agent really did a good job setting the whole thing up, but I think I got lucky. I would strongly recommend finding someone who has done one of these tickets before. I have since talked with many different agents and very few even know that these tickets exsist. Checking out the travel section in larger news papers is a start or if you have a University in your town a lot of the time a good students travel agent will have an Idea of what is going on.

There are many pros and cons to these tickets. I was glad I went that rout for my big trip however, it was a challenge to keep changing the dates considering I was two months behind before I even left South America. For my first big trip it was comforting to know that I had tickets in and out of the country for my destinations. Plus the price for the amount of travel was extreamly ressonable, about $200.00 a flight. One area of frustration was the no overland travel or it counted as a stop. This meant that I always had to backtrack to the City I flew into or forfit the ticket. I only did this once but I must say it would have been nice to just go up to the counter in what ever city I was in and buy a ticket when I wanted to go. A good example of this is when I bought and additional ticket from Delhi to Katmandu. I had to fly back to Delhi to catch my flight to Bangkok. When I do another big trip like this I will buy a one way ticket out of the country and buy as I go. It takes a little more faith but I really feel that it will probably cost about the same and be much more convient. Something to remember is that the Air Line system outside the world of FAA control works very differently and is much more affordable. There are a tremendous amount of rules, regulations and taxes here in the U.S. and in many countries the Local Airline may even be Government Subsidised. These smaller carriers like Royal Cambodia, Royal Nepalie or Royal Bruni aren’t available or even known to most of the travel agents here in the U.S. The booking systems for most of these flights works backwords to the U.S. Airlines. If you book in advance in the U.S. you will usually get the best fare and if you have to go up to the Desk on the day you want to leave the price is the highest you will pay. I the third world the opposite is true. I you know you want to leave on certain day sometime in the future this will be the most expensive ticket. If you are flexable and buy at the last minute it is usually much cheaper. A quick note, if you choose to buy tickets on the way do a little research about the countries you plan to visit. Sometimes some countries will require that you have an exit ticket or they will not allow you into the country. Checking the most current guide book isn’t a bad idea on how to handle these situations.
Certain internet companies are finally helping the U.S. fill those last few seats buy you will still get soaked if you go to a travel agent at the last minute. In addition these smaller third world carriers always seemed to be clean, safe and professional. Often these cariers may offer an experience that you will never experience on a commuter flight from Denver to Chicago. On a flight from Bangkok to Bruni Boreno, a Muslum country, on Royal Bruni Airlines before the flight took off the plane stoppedon the runway, the video monitiors all came to life with light fluffy clouds and blue sky on the screens as a prayer in Arabic echoed through the sound system latter on we were served a Halal Meal (Religiously Correct) buy flight attendants with traditional head scarves. All of this on one of the most modern and comfortable planes I have ever been on and at a fraction of the price of any FAA controlled Carriers.
On the other end of the spectrium on a different trip I took a flight from a small island off the cost of Hondrus to the Mainland to catch a flight home. I had gotten a ride from the beach to the “Airport” and I use that term loosely. The terminal building was roughly a ten foot by fifteen foot hut made with poles and covered in woven thatch for the roof and walls. It had a ticket window underneath a large thatch deck. The floor of this waiting area was hard packed earth and nearby runway was made of crushed sea shells. The whole thing looked more like the set of Gilligans Island rather then an airport. As stood in line to check in the guy in front of me checks in and hands over a machete to the attendent. I though nothing of it so when I checked in and she asked if I had any weapons I simply said no and thought nothing of it. Soon after the capitan on the plane began to load the luggage on the 12 seater twin prop plane and then he motioned for us to get on. No security, the capitan just stood at the side of the door with a cardboar box with guns knives and macaties in it. I guess security was on the honor system and if you had a weapon you were suppose to give it to the capitan. Once everyone was seated the capitan came aboard with the carboard box of weapons under his arm went into the cockpit area and we took off. Upon landing the Capitan gets of first again with is collection of weapons and as people file of the plane he gives them back. Sort of like “Now what did your revolver look like again.” Now I ask you where else but the the third world can you have enternatinment like that and fourty five minute flight for eighteen dollars. No wonder the travel agent at home can’t book that flight.

Passport and Visa’s
Passports are easy to get though the post office, on line through the State Departments Website or through Passport service. When applying make sure to try and get a passport with additional pages in it. Most countries that require a visa require that they have a full page to place that on. If there is a stamp from another country already on that page, a visa will not be put there. If you already have a Passport and you don’t think there will be enough room, like mine was, it is possible to send your Passport in and they will add additional approved pages. Another suggestion would be when you get you initial Passport photos try and make as many copies as you reasonable can. Some photo stores have machines where you can duplicate the same photo over and over so that it covers one sheet of paper and is much chaper then going to Kinko’s and getting twenty photos made. These photos will be needed for your some of your visa applications. I usually carry a few extra photo’s with me while on the road. Finally I keep my Passport in a small leather case it works well to keep a bit of cash in, extra photos and my health card.

Visa’s
Visa’s are a counties Governmetal approval to allow you to visit their country. They are usually for a set length of stay. Some countries require them and some don’t. Some are only good for several days others for months. Some are reneualable others aren’t. Some begin at the date of issuance and other the date of entry. (this one got me in India) Some are issue and may be purchased at the border others must be obtained outside the country. (Avoid trying to obtaine an Indian Visa in Katmandu, It took four days, standing in line eight hours a day.) The one main thing to remember about Visa’s is that the United States is really quite strict with them and they are expensive for people of the third world to obtain to visit here. The third world and responded in kind and therefore it is often expensive for us to visit the third world. Visas are definitely something to budget for. I believe I spent close to one thousand dollars for the different visa’s and service for my trip. I understand that each soverign country has the right to regulate who comes and goes and for how long. However, when a Visa for an American to visit certain countries may represent ten to twenty percent of the averge yearly income for a population, I really wonder how much of it is designed to generate revenue and stuff someones pockets.

Obtaining Visa’s while in the states is fairly easy to do, however, it is time consumeing because your passport hast to be sent to each individual embasy, visa inserted and then returned. If you happen to live in Washington DC Visas are a snap because youcan go to the embasy in person. If not I would consider using a Visa service. This service will supply you with all the applications needed and then obtain the visas for you and then return Your Passport. This can get expensive quickly so I would recommend that you review your guide book or even look at that countries website to see what is exactly needed. I tried to get all my Visa’s before I went on my trip and regretted doing so. Now I prefer to get the visias for the first few countries I am planning on visiting and then pick up the rest as I travel.

Settteling affairs at Home:
Prepareing to leave home for an extended period of time will require some preperation. When I left I had my personal home and a rental. I was able to rent both of these without too much of a hassle. Now I know there can always be a hassle with being an out of the country landlord so choose a good friend to rent my place and I gave him great deal. In echange he took care of the place and trouble shot any problems. Another good friend agreed to be on call if there were any handy man problems while I was on the road. We prearranged how he would take care of things if problems occurred, and they did. It actually was fun to find out I just bought a new stove for my other tenants and that everything went well, all by email while in India. Finally, I had worked with a book keeper at my former business and I completely trusted her. Ruth was happy to get the mail from my friend who was in my house, go through the bills, pay what was needed and deposit the rent checks. I had put her on my checking account as a cosigner and she was happy take care of the bills and if I had a problem overseas she was my contact at home to help me out. All in all it really couldn’t have worked out any better. I was fortunate that my network of friends contained people who had these skill sets and that they were happy to help out. It was a great feeling and well worth the money they charged. If you are in a position that you have to hit the yellow pages and find someone to fill these positions, be assured that there are plenty of property managers, handy men, book keepers, accountants or attorneys that would be more then happy to take care of things when you are out of the country. I must say I was amazed at how little it really cost. If you are looking at hireing someone you don’t know make sure to do a little homework before you let them become a cosigner on your checkbook, but don’t be afraid to head out for a longer period of time just because of it. I the age of electronic and email banking it may even be possible to handle many personal affairs from the road. At a minimum if the person who is taking care of the bills at home is someone new, you might consider keeping the checking account fairly low and just transferring what is needed and a little extra into that checking account from a savings account that only you have access to. It is almost as easy to do online banking while sitting on the beach in Thailand as it is from home.

As I sit and write I think back to that debate I had with my subconscious just before I made the decision to go. I’m glad my subconscouse was call cool and collected just like good or Frank Sanatra. With the world in mind, “If I can travel there, I’ll travel any where”